Govt Drafting New Service Rules to Protect Private Sector Employees

The government has initiated a comprehensive process to formulate modern and unified 'Private Service Rules' aimed at ensuring job security, standardized working conditions, and equitable financial benefits for employees in the country's massive non-government sector.

The Ministry of Public Administration has commenced drafting the regulations to establish an absolute legal foundation governing minimum wages, mandatory appointment letters, defined working hours, structural leave models, workplace anti-harassment mechanisms, and terminal service benefits.

The policy initiative moved into active development following a high-level stakeholder consultation meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat on May 10, presided over by the Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Md. Ehsanul Hoque. To guarantee cross-sectoral consensus, the ministry has dispatched formal letters to relevant ministries, commercial chambers, and private trade associations, providing them with 15 working days to submit localized feedback.

Reforming labor laws to curb arbitrary terminations

The aggregated proposals from the stakeholders will be utilized to introduce vital structural amendments and expansions into the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 and the Bangladesh Labour Rules, 2015. A specialized regulatory committee led by the Additional Secretary (Rules Wing) of the Ministry of Public Administration, Mostafa Zaman, has been constituted to oversee the consolidation.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday (May 20), Mostafa Zaman noted that the project directly reflects the ruling party's electoral manifesto commitments intended to raise the standard of living for private sector workers.

"The government is placing the highest strategic priority on safeguarding job security within the private sector," Additional Secretary Mostafa Zaman stated. "We frequently observe private entities executing arbitrary down-sizing and laying off workers solely for institutional convenience. Many establishments avoid retaining aging employees, refuse to grant mandatory maternity leaves to female workers, or completely evade distributing service benefits. This unified framework is engineered to eliminate these systemic gaps."

While existing statutes offer generalized safeguards, practical enforcement remains weak. The finalized unified rules are expected to be legally enforced under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, leveraging its operational Labor Tribunals to handle legal grievances and provide judicial remedies to deprived employees. The regulatory shift aligns with the political pledge made in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) electoral manifesto to formulate a dedicated Private Service Rule framework.

Covering gig economy and platform workers

Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mohammad Kuddus Ali Sarkar, acknowledged that while the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 carries institutional validation from the International Labour Organization (ILO), field-level compliance remains significantly compromised. Owners frequently exercise uninhibited authority to dismiss personnel at will. The Ministry of Labour has strongly recommended injecting stringent employee-protection clauses to plug existing loopholes.

Crucially, the early-stage policy debates have expanded to incorporate digital-first, platform-based workers. Officials confirmed that specific attention is being paid to drafting service rules for delivery and ride-sharing workers attached to multinational and domestic digital networks like Uber, Pathao, and Foodpanda, alongside independent freelancers in the broader gig economy, who currently navigate a complete regulatory vacuum.

The private sector's massive employment footprint

According to data extracted from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Labor Force Survey 2024, the nation’s total employed population stands at 6.90 crore (69.09 million). The statistical breakdown highlights the vital necessity of the upcoming rules:

• Private and Joint Ventures: Consumes 48.2% of the national workforce.

• Private Institutional Setups: Employs an additional 18.2% of the population.

• Total Private Sector Footprint: Accounts for a massive 66.4% of aggregate employment.

• Public Sector Enlistment: Comprises a mere 4.7% of the workforce, with the remainder absorbed by household-based economies.

While the state has successfully instituted minimum wage benchmarks across 47 specific industrial sectors, multiple newly declared formal industries have yet to experience concrete enforcement.

Industrial leaders weigh in on the challenges

An executive from a leading national trade association, speaking anonymously, admitted that allegations regarding wrongful terminations without valid notice or cause are rampant. Many companies avoid permanent staffing models to dodge bonus obligations, leaving festival bonuses and long-service gratuities completely dependent on arbitrary managerial whims. He emphasized that since the current labor law cannot seamlessly cover every distinct private niche, a comprehensive framework is the only viable solution.

Former President of the Bangladesh Employers' Federation (BEF), Fazlul Hoque, welcomed the strategy but cautioned regarding the complexities of execution. He pointed out that the private sector is exceptionally diverse, with individual industries operating on distinct operational models, shifts, and human resource structures. Consequently, applying a rigid, one-size-fits-all service rule will present severe administrative challenges, requiring deeper bilateral negotiations with private employers before final gazette publication.